Write2Heal
Brique Par Brique,
Montréal, August 2023
This workshop aims to create an accessible writing practice for participants, awareness of our daily lives under capitalism, and our connection to the land as South Asian migrants/settlers. Light-hearted themes of connection, community, and care will be emphasized.
We will also set some intentions for the Fall season. The workshop will begin with a guided breathwork meditation and the facilitator (Zahra) will provide three writing prompts for participants to reflect and journal on.
Dialogue and sharing your writing is not mandatory but it is encouraged! While this workshop is open to all BIPOC, themes will focus on South Asian cultures and folks. Urdu-Hindi translation is available by the facilitator.
Write2Heal
Centre for Gender Advocacy
Montréal, April 2023
Write2Heal is a drop-in session that will provide an encouraging space to community members who are interested in a writing and/or journaling session. The session will include writing prompts provided by me (Zahra); questions that have helped me with writing on healing, setting self-care intentions, and connecting with my voice.
The journalling practice will focus on how we've been feeling, what seeds we are planting during the Spring and what intentions we would like to set for the upcoming Summer season. The themes will coincide with the re-birth and re-growth that comes with Spring. The goal of the session is to nurture your authentic voice and connect within.
Guest Lecturer:
Decolonial Feminisms
Beaconhouse National University, Mariam Dawood School of
Visual Arts & Design.
Lahore, November 2025
Join us for a SVAD TALK featuring Zahra Haider!
Zahra Haider is a writer from Islamabad, based in Montréal. Her work traces the fault lines of identity, nationalism, and diaspora through a feminist and postcolonial lens. Haider’s essays and commentary have appeared on BBC, CNN, CBC, Dawn, Deutsche Welle, Foreign Policy, The Friday Times, VICE News, and others. Her writing explores class, gender, and women’s trauma in Pakistan and its diaspora. She has led writing workshops in Montréal and is a member of the Quebec Writers’ Federation.
Haider is invited as part of the VFA-Toward Decolonial Feminisms course led by Abdullah Qureshi. She will talk with the students about her practice and research, focusing on feminist Urdu poetry and approaches to creative writing.
⏰6:00PM -7:30 PM (Online)